Does anyone have any recommendations for telescopes for a kid? My son is about to be 6 and is obsessed with all things space. The only thing he wants for Christmas this year is a telescope. We're in Plano, so I know that might pose some challenges with light pollution, but I wanted to see if anyone here had any insight.

Budget?

Two tips:

1. Get a computerized one for ease of use. A six year old will have a hard time aiming and tracking objects. Objects move out of view in about 30 seconds unless the telescope also moves. Also, any time he touches it to move the image will bounce around.

2. Amazon usually has great deals on telescopes that have been returned. People buy them and either never use them, or can't figure them out. Something like this for example:

https://a.co/d/4VC9WIK

Or this: https://a.co/d/aVpeV59

Half off of new. I bought one years ago and it's simple to use. 10 minute setup, tell it what you want to see, and it will aim and track the object. You can easily see Jupiter and Saturn. Great views of the moon, but you will need a lunar filter.

All great advice, thank you. I like the idea of computerized to help him track and find what he wants, since I'm sure it'll be frustrating to consistently lose focus of what he wants to see.

I was thinking around $250-300, but I'm willing to go higher for computerized and a leap in quality.

I have the second one I linked. $320 open box. Get a power adapter and lunar filter and he will be good to go. You will have to set it up, of course. Teach him the sky and where things are. Use the SkySafari app to find things and figure out what is viewable and when.

Awesome, thanks for your help!

Agree, shoot for a computerized telescope at $500 or less. In Plano, while there will be light pollution, the things that he's going to want to be looking at are all bright, and you can see them wherever (moon, planets, bright stars). Even the Orion nebula will be bright enough to see.

The only people who really need scopes in the +$1000 to +$10,000 range are those who want to be able to view a large variety of objects, including dark sky objects, as well as photograph them easily and well.

If you want to get into Astrophotography, I would start with a DSLR camera, wide angle lens (Milky Way) or super telephoto (Moon) on a sturdy tripod first before you ever move to shooting through a telescope.

There are also really cool gadgets and accessories out there to where you can photo the sun and moon very easily with your phone, i.e. Hestia from Vaonis.

That's really cool.

Can't help with the telescope - but a trip to a Star Party while the kids are interested in space is worth the drive
https://mcdonaldobservatory.org/visitors/programs/evening-programs

Can the seestar be used to look at stuff other than stars? As a plane nerd I would love to be able to use ADSB gps locations to photograph all the planes in the neighborhood.

lb3 said:

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Can the seestar be used to look at stuff other than stars? As a plane nerd I would love to be able to use ADSB gps locations to photograph all the planes in the neighborhood.

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It can. But it's not great at it. The manufacturer admits it. The sensor and optics aren't optimized for it. It shines with deep space objects.

It also does lunar and solar photography. You can also use it for live scoping during the daylight.

When the moon goes down in a couple of weeks, I'll take some planet shots so you can see. Provided the clouds cooperate.

It's not quite full but a couple of moon shots with the Seestar.

The first is 1x and the second is 2x, on Tycho. There is a 4x magnification but there was enough water vapor in the air to make it really shimmer. It was just too blurry.

I also really cut down the briteness to not blow it out.